Texas sues New York abortionist for mailing abortion pills

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 16, 2024 / 14:00 pm (CNA).

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against an abortionist in New York, alleging that she illegally provided abortion drugs to a woman in Texas, which killed the unborn child and caused serious health complications for the mother.

The lawsuit, filed on Dec. 12, alleges that Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter gave abortion drugs to a woman across state lines through telehealth services. It states she is not licensed to practice medicine in Texas and that state law prohibits the delivery of abortion drugs through the mail.

Most abortions are illegal in Texas, including both surgical and chemical abortions. In the state, abortion is only legal when continuing the pregnancy would put the mother’s life or physical health at serious risk. The lawsuit states that the recipient of the abortion drugs did not have any health risks from her pregnancy.

“In this case, an out-of-state doctor violated the law and caused serious harm to this patient,” Paxton said in a statement.

“This doctor prescribed abortion-inducing drugs — unauthorized, over telemedicine — causing her patient to end up in the hospital with serious complications,” the attorney general added. “In Texas, we treasure the health and lives of mothers and babies, and this is why out-of-state doctors may not illegally and dangerously prescribe abortion-inducing drugs to Texas residents.”

Carpenter is a co-medical director and founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine (ACT), which opened after the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and states began passing pro-life laws to restrict abortion.

According to ACT’s website, the organization makes abortion “available to patients in all 50 states” and provides “telemedicine care for patients in abortion-hostile states.” The website further states it provides abortion drugs to women up to the 12th week of pregnancy.

CNA reached out to ACT to request a comment from Carpenter on the lawsuit and ask whether the organization follows state laws but did not receive a response by the time of publication. More than 15 states have laws prohibiting abortions earlier than the 12th week of pregnancy.

The lawsuit alleges that Carpenter “sees Texas patients via telehealth and prescribes them abortion-inducing medication” and that she knowingly continues to violate Texas law, which puts “women and unborn children in Texas at risk.” It asks the court to prohibit her from continuing to prescribe abortion drugs to women in Texas and seeks civil penalties of at least $100,000 for each violation of state law.

The lawsuit alleges that the mother went to the hospital on July 16 due to hemorrhaging or severe bleeding. It states she had been nine weeks pregnant before the unborn child died from the abortion drugs.

In June 2023, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a law that prohibits state law enforcement from cooperating with out-of-state cases that seek to prosecute abortionists for providing abortions in pro-life states. The law also prohibits insurance companies from disciplining abortionists who break pro-life laws in other states by providing abortions.

New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a Dec. 13 statement that her state “is proud to be a safe haven for abortion access.”

“We will always protect our providers from unjust attempts to punish them for doing their job and we will never cower in the face of intimidation or threats,” James said. “I will continue to defend reproductive freedom and justice for New Yorkers, including from out-of-state anti-choice attacks.”

Earlier this year, James sued pro-life pregnancy centers, accusing them of making misleading statements about abortion pill reversal drugs. The pro-life pregnancy centers countersued, alleging that they were being targeted. In August, a judge temporarily halted James’ efforts to restrict the speech of pro-life pregnancy centers, ruling that their statements about the abortion pill reversal drug “are of interest to women who have begun a chemical abortion and seek ways to save their unborn child’s life.”

Katie Daniel, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America’s director of legal affairs, thanked Paxton for “leading the charge to hold out-of-state abortion businesses accountable for preying on Texas’ unborn children and their mothers.”

“Thanks to extreme blue-state politicians who shield them, abortionists in states like New York openly violate the protective laws of pro-life states, killing unborn children and sending women to the emergency room in dire condition — all while sitting comfortably thousands of miles away,” she said in a statement.

“We hope his example will embolden other pro-life leaders and begin the undoing of the mail-order abortion drug racket,” Daniel added.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved mifepristone for chemical abortion use in 2000. Abortion drugs account for about half of all abortions in the United States. Although pro-life groups have urged President-elect Donald Trump to use executive actions to restrict these drugs, the incoming president has committed to ensuring they remain available.